Pages

Monday, 1 May 2017

Weekend in Valencia

I’ve been meaning to write a post about my short but eventful trip to Valencia for quite a while now, deadlines, work and other priorities just kept getting in the way but as I’m currently on a train I thought it would be a good opportunity to finally document my trip.

Myself and a friend visited the lovely Spanish city that is Valencia in late February. If you follow me on Instagram, then you will have already seen many of the photos I took whilst away, I can’t help but keep posting them now and again…yeah, sorry I’m that ’throwback post’ person.

With Valencia being less than a 2-hour cheap flight away and the slightly warmer temperature we couldn’t resist but book a short trip to get over the post-Christmas blues. I’ve just accepted now that January to March is the worst time of the year in the UK, I like to think of myself as a tropical plant that needs sun and water then dies in winter.

We chose Valencia mainly because it’s been dubbed the art capital of Spain, so we knew even if it rained there would still be lots of activities to do over the weekend! The first part of the trip is a bit of a sleepless blur. We intended to go for one overly priced cocktail in Manchester’s Spinningfield’s but accidentally ended up staying out till 3am. Our flight was at 7am, you get the picture.

Finally arriving in Valencia just in time for brunch, the first thing we notice immediately is the beautiful terracotta and apricot colours that adorned the streets. Rustic and full of character. Our Airbnb is lovely and situated right in the centre, there seems to be a monologue written in Latin on one of the living room walls. We will never know what it means but we like to think it’s something inspiring at least.

By this time, we only had a few hours of golden hour light left so took to the streets to explore what Valencia had to offer. It is the most photogenic European city I have been to, everywhere you look there’s a new shot to capture. Orange and lemon trees line the streets and it has me thinking, why can’t we have apple trees lining the streets of Manchester? A dumb question in hind sight, but got to love an idealist.

I've started taking a film camera out with me instead of digital sometimes, it's a bit risky (especially if you buy expired cheap film like I do) but I love how unpredictable the finished result is and it's less editing time, the grainy effects of film just speak for itself.

On the second day we headed to the IVAM (Institut Valencià d’Art Modern). Myself and Emily both love art but when it comes down to it, I let her decide on the best art galleries to visit. The IVAM did not disappoint, in fact it was the best art gallery for modern art I’d been to in a while, not just for its emotive exhibitions that all seemed to link in some way and were easy to understand and connect with but also for the size of the gallery. I know from the confused looks on family members faces when I show them artists work, modern art is typically one of those things that you either love or hate, either way I would highly recommend a trip to go there!

As you walk around Valencia it's immediately clear that this is a city that prides itself on its street art as well as it's galleries. I took so many photos of the various murals, too many to put in this post but definitely check out my Instagram if you fancied seeing more. I particularly liked this Horse and snails found on Carrer de Saint Dionis.

Another striking wall was this one below, created by covering the wall with a wire mesh grid, and cross stitching the roses on top.

Valencia is beautiful but isn't by any means pristine, as you can see in the photo's much of it features cracking walls and word graffiti, but I love it, it just adds character and I personally find perfect a little boring to photograph sometimes. Overall it was a wonderful weekend filled with plenty of culture and Sangria!